Sad news at work

[NMMNG]

As many of you already know, one of my jobs is a a community based agency that provides services to people with mental illnesses. For the first three years I worked with the most severely affected individuals before transferring to where I am now, which is the program for individuals with mental illnesses and comorbid chemical addictions.

Anyway, several weeks ago one of the gentlemen from my former program walked off during a trip to a local store. He suffered from Schizophrenia and Depression, and during his absence was not taking his medications. Ongoing searches were fruitless until yesterday when they found his body in the woods. There was no immediate indication of the cause of death, though there was no direct evidence of foul play. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause and manner of death.


Mental illness claims another life. :-(

[KingFlorez]

1. Sad to hear that

R.I.P.

[renate]

2. I'm so sorry....

I don't understand why chemical imbalances in the brain aren't treated with the same respect as chemical imbalances in the rest of the body.

[Kutjara]

7. Because...

...having 'mental problems' is the result of being 'weak' and not having the moral fiber to 'snap out of it.' If you can't control your own mind, then you are just a self-indulgent loser who can't handle the big bad world 'like a real man.' Asking for help is admitting weakness, and if you admit weakeness, why then you might as well just go and be Gay!

Just look at our hero the President. He had a little problem with the bottle and the Bolivian marching powder. Did he go whining to some 'councellor' or 'social worker'? He did not. He hoisted himself up by his own bootstraps, got over himself, and kicked the habit. He's a real man.

Real men handle their own problems. They don't need no stinking help from nobody. They do it on their own. Alone. All alone. All alone...

[NMMNG]

10. That's about the size of it

I have a friend who once told me her "theory" of depression:

"People grow up and discover they have to work for a living, and that's why they get depressed."

And she has a degree in Human Services mind you.

[Syncronaut Seven]

22. Um yea! That's it!

Nothing to do with the human spirit being bound by fascists and bullies.

I think depression hits the compassionate and aware a whole lot harder, we know just how wrong things have gone.

The oblivious seem to be the happy ones.

On edit: not an easy gig, mental health. You ever meet any clients pushed over the edge because they we're too aware? I've been privy to more than a few profound observations from "crazy people" Kind of makes me wonder if we're the crazy ones. ;o)

[w8liftinglady]

3. bless you for your work

I've always felt that we could do so much more for the mentally ill,especially in the area of medication and group therapy.It looks like my son will join their ranks some day(PTSD).

[Kutjara]

4. I'm sorry to hear that.

It is particularly hard on those, like yourself, who work hard to make the lives of people afflicted by mental illnesses and addictions better. You must feel the loss of each one personally.

[NMMNG]

11. I've been looking back over the past 18.5 years

Between this job and my job with developmentally disabled adults, I realized that I've experienced the deaths of 7 clients.

Some of them I realize nothing more could have been done. The individual may have been very elderly or had multiple health conditions. However there are other situations where I can't help but wonder what could have been done differently? How else could they have been helped?

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. :shrug:

[Kutjara]

16. You can't always know.

It must be very easy to beat yourself up in your line of work. "If only I'd done this," or "maybe I could have tried that," but the truth is there is only so much you can do. You have to take your best guess and proceed accordingly.

The mind and the emotions are gloriously complex, but that is also their weakness. The same thing can go wrong in different ways and different things can go wrong in the same ways. Illnesses mask themselves or mimic other conditions. Have I got a stomach problem or anxiety? Are these headaches migranes or stress. Have I got depression or anemia? Different individuals with, superficially, the same condition will respond differently to treatment. The mind is nonlinear and unpredictable.

That makes those people who take on the challenge of helping those with mental illnesses find a way out of their haunted woods all the more deserving of praise.

[Erika]

5. At least his life/death has touched many.

Take care.

[merh]

6. Aww, I am so sorry, Buffy

That is so sad and must be hard on you since you worked with him.

Bless you for trying to help so many in our community that are not understood and therefore neglected and tossed aside. :hug:

[NMMNG]

13. Thanks merh

Bless you for trying to help so many in our community that are not understood and therefore neglected and tossed aside.

That's what I do in both of my jobs--something I felt drawn to in college and have been doing ever since. I never did (and never will) understand the manner in which people devalue others and consider them disposable, leaving them to suffer for crimes they never committed. :grr: :cry:

[merh]

17. I can't understand it either.

For a time I worked with folks that were the square pegs in our round holed society.
It isn't easy, but it is so necessary and I do appreciate you and your work.

We are a disposable society, we toss so many aside because they are different. God forgive us :cry:

:hug:

[SeattleGirl]

8. Jeez, Buffy, that's so sad

:hug:

[NMMNG]

14. Thanks SG

:hug:

[sam sarrha]

9. sorry to hear that, i was on the research team that did the research that

was spun into a paper for Governor Reagan that ended up being used for the reason eliminate the state hospitals for the mentally ill in California, which became the gold standard to close nearly all the mental hospitals in the country..

i am so sorry..

[Erika]

12. Reagan saw worth in ability to produce only

If you couldn't produce, you were a drag on society and should be shunned. We are still all recovering from that impact.

[NMMNG]

15. Wouldn't it have been poetic justice if he were thrown out on the street

when he developed Alzheimer's Disease? Cruel yes, but poetic justice nonetheless.

[Erika]

18. I fought with that issue myself

Here was a man who tossed so many out on the streets without a 2nd thought to their well being. But he was pampered and babysat by SS agents, and received the best medical care, to the day he died.

Since he claimed to be religious, I often wonder how he reconciled his meeting with St. Peter.

[sam sarrha]

19. Hitler called the poor, disabled and mentally ill.."Worthless Eaters"

[NMMNG]

26. Sounds like something he would say

Also sounds like something Reagan and Bush would say--if they thought they could get away with it.

[brook]

21. I'm having a terrible time...

with that mind set recently. I run a facility for seniors. A couple of weeks ago, a group of disabled joined us in our dining room.I find the 'non-disabled' seniors shunning them. It frustrates me and makes me angry. I'm wracking my brain trying to force interaction. Have gone so far as to ask a couple of the non-disabled how they might feel if, after a stroke, they were wheelchair-bound and unable to speak - and I turned my back on them.

Talking to one of my homebound clients yesterday, she told me that her friends don't come around any more. She's on dialysis and is taking care of a husband with Altzheimers. Why are people so thoughtless? I know part of it is their refusal to look at their own mortality...but how do you abandon friends like that? Sorry for the rant- just wish I had better tools to make people kinder and more concerned in the happiness/well-being of their fellow humans.

:hug: Buffy. I know what you feel.

[NMMNG]

29. I often wonder at that mentality and find myself wanting to ask people

"What is it that makes you do that? Is it the "ick factor"? Is it the fear that it might be you someday? Is it fear of not knowing how to interact with them? Is it just plain ignorance?"

Sure I'd be putting them on the spot but sometimes that's a good thing. People need to stop treating people with disabilities, mental illnesses and the like as if they are contagious or dangerous, and start treating them with the same respect everyone else expects and deserves.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

20. God bless his soul

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. I'm so sorry :^(

[leftyladyfrommo]

24. Most of our mentally ill are out on the streets.

They have absolutely no business there and sometimes they get killed. I think a lot of our homeless people are mentally ill or also drug or alcohol dependent.

It is so sad. And so unneccesary.

You have my sympathy.

[NMMNG]

31. Roughly 25% of homeless individuals have a mental illness

And about 38% have substance abuse problems.

More needs to be done. :-(


http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/homeless/hhsummary.html

[joeunderdog]

25. Been in the biz for 20 years, and I've been investigated many times

for things that have gone wrong or complaints that have been made. It's all standard fare for a State Agent (Case Manager).

When they come to investigate, they don't bring flowers--they're there to find out what you might not have done right or what more you should have done. They make you sign a form that acknowledges that you've been told you have a right to have a lawyer present while they grill you.

Out of all the times we've been addressed on better ways to have handled this and that, there was one occasion where there was no finding of a problem. It was when a gentleman with Schizophrenia I'd worked with for many years was found dead. Looked like he jumped off the bridge--they found his body a couple days later on a nearby shore. Anyways, this guy had gone to a local Emergency Services Office to request admission to a hospital because he was depressed about his mother dying. He was found "not committable" and sent home, not long after which he did the deed. What bugs me is that this man was committable on his best day, a floridly psychotic man who shadow boxed and sang opera to nobody in particular while walking Main Street. For the first time ever, this man, who was well known to the Emerg/Serv staff, asked for help and said "Put me in the hospital." They denied him.

Hope they spent the money they saved on the hospitalization wisely.

Insurance companies have re-written commitment laws to suit their budgets and it killed this client and probably many, many more. The investigation inexplicably found no wrong-doing. I figured this would be a textbook case for allowing too many sick people to be denied the appropriate level of services. What a scam.

[EFerrari]

30. What a scam indeed. My husband says, "I was really crazy

but not crazy enough for my insurance to cover it. According to them, I was just fine."

Thanks for your work, joe. Families like mine really, really appreciate it. :hug:

[NMMNG]

32. I've been through dozens and dozens of such investigations at my other job

where I work with adults who have developmental disabilities. They put us through the wringer over every little thing. It was bad enough before, but now the regulations have changed so that anything more significant than a minor bruise or scrape is a "serious reportable incident". This involves a drawn out report that goes to a half-dozen agencies and may or may not result in a visit from the state.


As for the gentleman you discussed, I would have been furious. It is outrageous when bureaucrats, not doctors, are allowed to determine who is and is not considered a candidate for hospitalization. All the while insurance company CEOs are raking in millions per year. It is criminal.

[EFerrari]

27. I'm so sorry.

Needless, needless losses.

Did you know him well?

[blondeatlast]

28. Oh, God, I'm so very sorry. You have my respect for doing what

must be a very tough job.

:hug:

[NMMNG]

33. Thanks

:hug: